Best Western GB is an independently owned and managed

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

chain in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

with over 260 two, three and four star properties. Best Western GB provides sales, revenue and

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

services to all of its member hotels. Best Western Hotels GB is the international trading name of Interchange and Consort Hotels Limited.

History

Best Western GB began in 1967 when five independent hoteliers from Cambridge, Chester, Kenilworth, Ripon and Torquay sought to work together to generate referrals, maximise their marketing budgets and increase sales. Together they formed Interchange Hotels of Great Britain. Within weeks of this formation, a further six independent hotels joined the group. In 1978, the group elected to trade under the brand name Best Western Great Britain, effectively an affiliate of

Best Western International Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

in the US. Interchange merged with Consort Hotels in 1999. Interchange and Consort Hotels has since diversified into Beacon and InnFutures and is now the umbrella brand for all three companies. Beacon is a purchasing consortium in the UK hospitality sector. InnFutures was launched in 2008 and introduces hotel owners, including Best Western hotels, and management contract companies to manage their hotels. The hotel owners decide InnFutures’ level of involvement. In 2018,

Peel Hotels Peel Hotels plc is a hotel company operating in the United Kingdom. It operates eight hotels and is listed on the AIM. The company was founded in 1998 by Robert Peel, when he bought the Bull Hotel in Peterborough. Since that date, the compan ...

, owner of nine establishments, became members of Best Western hotels in the UK. In 2020,

Corus Hotels Corus Hotels is a group of 8 hotels based in the UK, with 2 hotels in Malaysia. The hotels are owned by London Vista Hotel Limited, which is part of Malayan United Industries. The brand name was launched in 1998 by the Regal Hotel Group, in ord ...

joined the UK's Best Western hotels group. The additions include two Laura Ashley properties, The Iliffe in Coventry and The Belsfield in

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Windermere lake and the town of Windermere to the north east with which it forms the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness. The town was histor ...

(pictured) - a building designed by architect George Webster in 1844 and now a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Hotel overview

Best Western Hotels GB has a wide variety of hotels ranging from

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s such as the Best Western Walworth Castle Hotel in Darlington, Grade II listed buildings such as Best Western Plus Grim's Dyke Hotel in Harrow Weald and White Hart Hotel, BW Premier Collection by Best Western in Harrogate to smaller hotels such as the Best Western Victoria Palace in London. They offer various lodging options located in cities and rural areas.

Business model

Best Western Hotels GB became an affiliate member of

, based in the US, in 1978. Best Western International imposes an initial fee on member hotels, as well as an annual fee for each room. Best Western International also publishes a list of quality standards that each hotel needs to maintain. On joining Best Western Hotels GB, each hotel commits to an initial three years of membership with the group, after which membership rolls over on an annual basis. While hotels are encouraged to maintain their independent identities, they are required to use Best Western's

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

ing and signage, and identify themselves as a Best Western hotel. The hotels can also use their own independent name as part of their identity.

References

External links

{{UK Hotels Best Western Hotels Companies based in York Hotel chains in the United Kingdom